Wait for me.
Bossy asshole.
But I waited. And two minutes later, Mikhail appeared in the doorway, his eyes finding me immediately. He moved through the crowd of students like they weren't even there, his focus locked on me.
"How was it?" he asked when he reached me.
"Fine. Normal. No one tried to kidnap me." I joked.
"Good." He didn’t laugh, and I knew he wouldn’t. Keeping me safe wasn’t funny at all to him.
We walked out together, and I tried to ignore the way people looked at us. At him, really. Mikhail was hard to miss. Tall, built, dangerous looking. Walking surveillance. He moved like a predator, all controlled power and lethal grace. And he was walking beside me like I was the only person in the world who mattered.
"Next class is in an hour," I said. "Across campus."
"I'll drive you."
"It's a ten minute walk."
"Then it's a two minute drive."
I stopped, turning to face him. "Mikhail. You can't hover like this all semester. I need some space to breathe. Plus, I definitely prefer walking versus driving."
Something flickered in his eyes. "You want space?"
"I want to feel normal again. And having you glued to my side every second makes that impossible."
He stepped closer, crowding into my space. I had to tilt my head back to look at him. "You know what's not normal,Shanice? Getting grabbed and held in a warehouse. That's not normal. And until I'm sure it won't happen again, you're stuck with me."
Anger flared and hated that he’d thrown those words at me. "I didn't ask for this!"
"No. You didn't." His hand came up, and for a second I thought he was going to touch my face. But he dropped it. "But you've got it anyway. So you can either fight me every step of the way, or you can accept that I'm not going anywhere and make the best of it. You’re going to be safe. Period. Until I find out differently, we don’t know who's watching you. That means I’m right here daring somebody to cross that line."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to tell him to back off and let me live my life.
But standing there, looking up into those dark intense eyes, all I could think about was what it would feel like if he actually touched me. If he put those hands on my skin and made good on all the promises I saw burning in his gaze.
“I can’t have you hurt, Shanice.”
"Fine," I said. "But I'm walking. And you're keeping at least three feet of distance."
His mouth curved into a smile that made my stomach flip. "Whatever you say."
We started walking. Mikhail kept exactly three feet between us, like he'd measured it. But I could still feel him. Still sense his presence like a physical weight and it comforted me so much that I began to relax into my stroll as we continued on. I appreciated him being there to make sure what happened before never occurred again.
Don’t get used to it, girl. Eventually, things will die down and he won’t be there.
I sighed and increased the speed of my steps. This was going to be a very long semester.
Shanice
My second class ended at one thirty, and my stomach was making embarrassing noises by the time I walked out.
Mikhail was waiting exactly where I'd left him, leaning against the wall like some kind of movie villain. His eyes tracked me the second I appeared, and he pushed off the wall to meet me.
"Good class?" he asked.
"Fine." I adjusted my bag on my shoulder. "Can we go now?"
